Policing Academic Centre of Excellence

The UCL P-ACE will be based in the Department of Security and Crime Science (DSCS) at University College London (UCL). The DSCS is a global leader in police-relevant research, innovation, education and impact, and is home to world-leading applied researchers. Research in the DSCS has played a major role in the implementation and development of evidence-based policing and crime reduction, generating significant global impact through shaping policy and practice and initiating a culture shift towards a more evidence-based way of working. Beyond crime reduction, the DSCS is also home to a world-leading centre for research on public trust and police legitimacy, where researchers have contributed to a wide range of high-profile projects exploring police-community relations from multiple perspectives. Moreover, the DSCS is avowedly multidisciplinary, consisting of a critical mass of engineers, computer scientists and forensic scientists working across disciplinary boundaries and engaging in cutting-edge research on policing and security technologies, including surveillance, sensing and identification. The UCL P-ACE will draw upon these three strands of DSCS activity, and the research of partners across UCL, to focus on five Areas of Research Interest (ARI): Building and maintaining public trust Crime prevention Identification and tracing Surveillance and sensing Analytics Working across these five domains, the UCL P-ACE will identify and facilitate the dissemination and use of existing research to help improve policing, and support the development of new research and technology with and for the police. Our established partner organisations, the London Metropolitan Police Service and the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, will assist us in identifying key areas of interest and need across both strands of work. In supporting police excellence, the UCL P-ACE will focus on two cross-cutting agendas, each of which reflect key challenges in contemporary policing. First, we will emphasize the meaningful transfer and exchange of knowledge and skills, and the importance of driving change in operational policing. Too often, new technologies and evidence-informed practices developed within and beyond the academy have failed to impact front-line police practice. In keeping with the core mission of the DSCS, the UCL P-ACE will not only develop and disseminate novel approaches, tools and technologies, but also work closely with police and partners to ensure these are fit – and usable – for the policing purposes intended. Second, within the current context of a crisis in public trust and confidence, UCL P-ACE activities will focus on the key question of public consent. Under what conditions do the policed trust the police to engage in new ways of working? What technologies pose challenges to police legitimacy? And do new technologies align with public preferences and priorities? The over-arching aim of the UCL P-ACE is therefore to promote and accelerate the use of research evidence in policing, in London and beyond, in ways that foster meaningful change in police practice and which function in ways that are aligned with what the public wants, needs and expects from policing.